CINS won European Press Prize for investigative journalism

The Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) won the most renowned European journalism recognition in the competition of most reputable European media and in the most prestigious category for investigative journalism. CINS was awarded for a series of articles on the treatment of corruption in Serbia and an article on the links between football, politics and crime. Past winners for excellence in investigative journalism were Reuters, El Pais and Revue XXI.

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The Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS) won the prestigious award European Press Prize in the investigative journalism category on Thursday, 20 April 2017 at the ceremony in Amsterdam. CINS was awarded for a series of articles on corruption and organized crime in Serbia, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands (MATRA program) and the EU Delegation in Serbia.

Commenting CINS victory, the judges said they believe that investigative journalism can help bulwark democracy, sometimes when it exposes global levels of corruption, but sometimes when it brings light and life to local communities.

“There was open admiration for the unflagging work and range of investigations mounted by CIJ journalists in Serbia – stories that exposed corruption charges framed and then forgotten; cases allowed to sink into the sands of time; a judiciary vulnerable to all manner of official and unofficial pressure; indeed, a legal system that promise justice but too often fails to deliver it”, the judges explained and concluded: “These are revelations of the utmost importance to Serbian society. They fulfil the most basic promise of investigative journalists to their readers: they lift the curtains of corruption and let the light shine in. “

Receiving the award, CINS editor-in-chief Dino Jahić said: “We are a team and we did the entire investigation as a team. We did not expect to win the award – it is a great privilege to be nominated in this group of superb journalists and stories – and to win the award is incredible, especially when people in Serbia are now protesting in the streets for media freedom and unbiased journalism. We see this award as a great incentive for our future work and recognition of what we did so far.”

CINS has worked on these stories for more than eight months, supported by Dutch MATRA program and the EU delegation to Serbia. It submitted hundreds of FOI requests, and only one of the databases it produced has 23.000 entries.

“Changes in Serbia happen very slowly and there are no real changes on this front yet. We will not stop working on this project and the issues we were awarded for. Our plan is to attract more young journalists to work with us and take part in real, solid journalism,” Jahić added in the end.

CINS investigations showed how inaccurate the allegations of the authorities’ representatives are that the fight against corruption and organized crime is successful – instead, it boils down to arrests on camera. Trials for the most severe crimes last for years. In early 2016 there were as many as 583 criminal court proceedings which have gone on for over a decade, among them the trial of Mirjana Marković, Slobodan Milošević’s wife, with no end in sight.

The investigative reporting award has been administered since 2014 and the winners have been: Reuters for the investigation of the Assets of the Ayatollah in Iran (2014), El Pais for the story about crimes of Columbian military officers (2015), and Revue XXI (France) for a story on mass rapes in Congo (2016).

Some of the past winners in other categories are: Die Zeit, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Observer, Novaya Gazeta.

CINS is a member of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a network of investigative centers and journalists, Global Investigative Journalism Network and some regional and Serbian networks and coalitions. It has won six national awards for investigative journalism. The organization was founded in 2007.